


All Of My Ribs Are Quite In

by iwant_todie



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Projecting onto TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Child Abuse, Creeper Hybrid Sam | Awesamdude, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Fox Hybrid Wilbur Soot, Gen, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LMAO, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Piglin Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Raccoon Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Scared TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Sheep Hybrid Cara | CaptainPuffy, Sheep Toby Smith | Tubbo, TommyInnit Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, no beta we die like all of quackity's tales from the smp characters, the author listens to too much penelope scott
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29651226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwant_todie/pseuds/iwant_todie
Summary: Tommy is in Prison, and he can't leave. Seven days. That's all his has to last.---“I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta go.” Tommy mumbles to himself, and Dream has to bite back a laugh at how pathetic the teen looks, his eyes watching the lava as though Sam will appear through it to save him. “I can’t do this.”---Title is from Penelope Scott's song 'Baxter 3rd is Under Fucking Siege'.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 232





	1. I put them in there with you here

_ “Seven days.” _ Tommy’s voice breaks, curling in on himself. The teen looks pathetic, though he would work with that. Not too far gone, if he is still struggling with not calling Dream a friend. “And you’re going to be in here the whole time?”

“Yes, where else would I go?” Dream all but snaps back, rolling his eyes behind his mask. “I’m going to what, fairy dust ‘poof’ out of here?”

“I’ve gotta go. I’ve  _ gotta go _ .” Tommy mumbles to himself, and Dream has to bite back a laugh at how pathetic the teen looks, his eyes watching the lava as though Sam will appear through it to save him. “I can’t  _ do this _ .”

Dream watches the teen collapse, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Dream laughs, a hollow and empty thing that would wilt flowers. He’s got his plaything back, and though Tommy may have improved  _ somewhat _ , thanks to that sly, conniving bastard Sam and Dream’s own traitorous mother, Dream can fix him again. Make him  _ listen _ .

Dream lets go of the strings that puppeteer Ranboo, not caring where the enderman hybrid collapses. He’s got two puppets now - even if he has to replace the strings on Tommy - so it will be simple to get the server back under his thumb. 

TNT has always smelt so good, even if the obsidian doesn’t let him smell it. He can almost see Sam’s panic at the destruction. Not that the TNT blew up any obsidian, no. Dream doesn’t want to escape with a target on his back, if he did he’d have Ranboo spawn in withers. No, Dream wants as much destruction done as possible. Just to see if Tommy can be fixed, can be brought back to the puppet that Dream made him. Seven days at most. Dream will have to work hard.

If Tommy’s still struggling to not consider Dream a friend, well, that makes everything far easier.

Now, all Dream has to do is tell Tommy the truth. New L’Manburg blew up because Tommy ran away. Jack and Niki and Tubbo  _ surely _ hate him for that. Ranboo is his replacement. Quackity doesn’t speak to him anymore for a  _ reason _ . Sam did this to him. Puffy abandoned Dream so she would abandon Tommy. Phil and Techno and Wilbur never saw him as family. He’ll die at 22 to feel alive at 21, just like Dream did.

Dream pulls Tommy away from the lava, gently placing him in the corner that Dream put his bedding. Dream tucks Tommy into the sheets before sitting on his chest, waiting for the teen to wake up.

\---

Tommy wakes slowly, not opening his eyes as he creeps into consciousness. He’s lying on soft bedding, with a blanket over him. He must have fallen asleep in the twin’s room - Techno always puts him on some bedding when he has nightmares, and Wilbur always makes sure to give him a blanket. He likes the nests that they help him make - they smell like his brothers, and sometimes they’ll even steal a pillow from his father so that Tommy’s hybrid instincts can have all members of his family nearby, even if it’s just in smell.

Except this nest is wrong.

It smells like nothing, as though he was given brand new blankets and wool for the bedding. Cold also seeps in, something that wouldn’t happen with the carpeted floors of Techno and Wilbur’s room, or even with the oakwood floors in the lounge room at his home. It’s as though the bedding is on top of obsidian, and Tommy can’t understand why he would fall asleep in a room with obsidian floors. He makes a confused noise, his eyes cracking open slightly to look around.

Obsidian walls and floors, lit up by the warm light of flowing lava. Dream sleeps on top of the double chest, his head resting on one of his hands. His mask is propped off of his face, and he snores lightly. Confusion rushes over Tommy for a breath moment, before the realisation of where he his steals the breath out of his throat. Tommy chokes back a strangled scream, and Dream’s eyes shoot open, worry adorning his features.

“Tommy! Toms, are you okay?” He asks, looking around for any threats, as though Dream isn’t the biggest threat in the room. Tommy tries to bite back tears, his shoulders shaking in the struggle. “Hey, hey it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. I’m here. You’re not going to get hurt. Nothing is going to hurt you here. I’m your friend, nothing is going to hurt you.”

Dream pulls Tommy into a hug, a saccharine smile on his face. Bitter, vinegar laced honey in his words, but it ensures Tommy. He lets Dream hug him, though Tommy does want to struggle. Everything is confusing, and Dream is in his nest but there’s still  _ no smell _ . Why doesn’t Dream have a scent?

“You alright now?” Dream asks, putting his mask over his face. Tommy notices freckles on his hands and neck and feels confused. He never thought that Dream had any markings - his face only has small scars, but his body is littered with freckles. “Toms?”

“Don’t call me that.” Tommy mumbles, pulling away from Dream. He buries himself further into his nest, knowing that it will be safe. His tail, still wrapped around his chest, squeezes him. Tommy doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to keep himself in this semi-human form. He can’t hear properly without his racoon ears, and he should know when Dream is coming up to threaten or hurt him. He couldn’t hear Dream in the plains biome, and now that he’s awakened his hybrid half (with Techno’s help in the cottage his older brother lives in, his memory bitterly reminds him) he knows he should be able to hear when Dream approaches.

“I’m your friend Tommy.” Dream says softly, though he hops off of Tommy’s nest - thank  _ void _ \- “I just want to help you.”

“You hurt me. Friends don’t hurt each other.” Tommy repeats what Puffy and Sam tell him robotically, curling in on himself. “You abused me. You’re my abuser.”

“Your father and older brother felt otherwise.” Dream says, and Tommy pales. “I told them about exile, I told them everything. And they still decided that I was right to do what I did.”

“No, they wouldn’t- Would they?” Tommy’s eyes tear up, his head spinning. 

“They would.” Dream says, false sympathy lacing his words. “I’m sorry Toms.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“What should I call you then, would you prefer ‘Kit’ or ‘Cub’?” The words knock the air from Tommy’s chest once more, and the teen can’t think, can’t move, can’t even  _ breath. _

“What?” He manages to stumble out, the words shaky.

“Well, you’re a racoon hybrid, right? So you’re a kit or a cub until you’re eighteen.”

“How did you-”

“Phil and Techno didn’t tell me.” Dream says, waving Tommy’s concern away. “But your father and brothers are all hybrids, and I know how your kind works. Techno is a piglin because he trained with them. Wilbur was a fox hybrid because he was a trickster. Phil can’t stand to be in one place at a time and constantly needs to feel the wind in his hair, so he’s a bird hybrid.” Dream shrugs, looking away from Tommy. “It makes sense that you’re a racoon hybrid, I mean, you’re a little thief who somehow gets to go free every time.”

“Oh.” Tommy’s shoulders relax slightly, relief filling his veins. He wasn’t betrayed, Dream’s just smart - a good friend, even. No. Not a good friend. 

“You can relax to whatever form you use normally, now.” Dream says, the blank painted smile staring down Tommy. Tommy nods, shutting his eyes.

His hair grows slightly longer, the ends turning black and grey. His human ears disappear, and the racoon ears grow atop his head. Black fuzz rings his eyes and his nails turn into claws. His teeth sharpen and for a brief moment, everything is fine as his sense relax.

Then it hit him.

Dream doesn’t smell like  _ anything _ . His scent isn’t masked by the lava, or it isn’t faint. It wasn’t that Tommy’s human nose couldn’t pick up the scent, it was that it  _ doesn’t exist. _ Dream doesn’t have a scent. Tommy’s eyes widen in horror, staring up at Dream in fear. Only one creature doesn’t have a smell, and Tommy might not know what it is, but he knows that it will only bring danger and pain.

But Dream takes off his mask, concern in his eyes. He kneels down to Tommy’s level, his hands raised. He doesn’t approach Tommy, who’s ears lay flat against his head in fear.

“Are you okay?” Dream’s voice is soft.

“You don’t have a scent.” Tommy mumbles in horror. “Why don’t you-”

“I don’t know why, but I promise Tommy,  _ I’m your friend _ . No one else will hurt you in here.” Dream opens his arms out, ready to hug the teen again.

“Dangerous.” Tommy says. “No smell means not safe.”

“No it doesn’t.” Dream smiles at Tommy, as though he’s remembering something. “No smell means home. If you can’t smell something, it means that you know that it’s safe. It’s why your home smells like nothing. It’s why  _ I _ smell like nothing. Because you’re safe.”

Tommy nods, thinking over what Dream says. It’s true that his home has no scent - though his home is with Sam - and it’s true that the lack of scent there makes him feel safe, but Tommy doesn’t know if that extends to people.

Dream takes his nod as acceptance though, and Tommy is pulled into a hug.

Maybe Dream is his friend, after all. He doesn’t smell like anything, and he hasn’t hurt Tommy the entire time that Tommy has been in the prison. Maybe he is Tommy’s friend. Maybe exile wasn’t that bad - especially if Techno and Phil had decided that Dream was in the right then. Maybe Sam and Puffy just got it wrong, they  _ had _ only heard Tommy’s side of it after all. Maybe Dream was in the right.

Tommy yawns, struggling to keep his eyes open. There’s no shame in sleeping more, Tommy supposes, as Dream helps him settle into his nest. He’d prefer his den in Sam’s house, but if this is the next best thing than Tommy won’t complain. And besides, when was the last time someone had tucked him into bed?

~~ It was two nights ago, when Puffy and Sam had helped him get into bed after a really bad breakdown during a theraPuffy session. They sat with him until he fell asleep, and left a note besides his bed telling him that they would be in the kitchen or their rooms. He rested soundly that night, knowing that he was safe with them. He doesn’t feel that way here. ~~

Tommy purrs as he falls asleep, trusting Dream to keep him safe. He’ll be fine, Dream is a temporary friend, even if Puffy and Sam don’t trust him. They don’t have to let him out, but he’ll take care of Tommy in here while Sam fixes whatever happened on the roof. Then Tommy won’t have to see him again. 

But wouldn’t that be rude? Dream is his friend.


	2. Pray for me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam rebuilds the prison.
> 
> \---
> 
> Place, replace, improve. Mine for more resources. Do not think. Don’t think about Tommy, trapped in that cold cell. Place redstone. Eat food.
> 
> \---
> 
> He might be spiralling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from 'Pray' by The Amazing Devil.

Sam builds. He’s been building nonstop for days, the damage from the  _ stacks _ of TnT that had been lit had done a number on the roof and inner workings of the prison. It’s been two days since Tommy was first trapped in with Dream, and Sam can’t help but be fearful for the teen. What could the man have done to him? 

A teen, trapped with his abuser in prison. The last visit he was ever supposed to make. It was supposed to be  _ closure _ , not entrapment. Not having to relive your worst nightmares and memories over and over. Sam should have never let Tommy into the prison. It’s too much to be conicidence. Had Tommy just told Dream that he was never visiting again when the bombs had gone off? Sam knows that the pair wouldn’t have been hurt from the explosions, but obsidian walls won’t protect Tommy from the monster it keeps in.

Has Dream found out that Tommy is a racoon hybrid? Has Dream used that against Tommy, painted the teens skin black and blue and red? Has Tommy lost his tail, his ears, the things that he has fought tooth and claw to feel proud of? Has Dream taken Tommy’s claws, has he-

Sam shakes his head. He can’t keep worrying, can’t allow himself a second to spiral. Spiralling won’t help Tommy get out faster. Spiralling won’t make sure Tommy is safe once he is out of the prison.

Place redstone. Place blackstone. Place, replace, improve. Mine for more resources. Do not think. Don’t think about Tommy, trapped in that cold cell. Place redstone. Eat food. Drink water. Take a half hour nap. Place blackstone. Place block. Is Tommy scared? Place redstone. Does Tommy think that he’s abandoned him? Place a piston. Test the redstone. Has Dream hurt the teen? The redstone works. Has Dream only tried to convince Tommy that they’re friends? 

Sam shakes himself. It’s night now. When did it become night?

He sighs, going back to work. He can’t rush this, but if he stops Tommy will be hurt. Tommy won’t be hurt if Sam keeps building. He can stop Dream from hurting Tommy if he just keeps building.

\---

Phil sits outside Techno’s house, a warm mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He can hear Techno and Ranboo play uno inside, the game having gone on for hours at this point. They started at 3pm, and only took a break for dinner. Nearly five hours of neither of them getting  _ close _ to only having two cards left.

It reminds Phil of when his family was Kirsten, Wilbur, Techno and Tommy, with Tubbo over more often than not. His heart aches, and wings fluff up against his back uselessly. He doesn’t have the ability to heal them - not now, not on this server.

Does his family stare up at the same stars?

The sound of footsteps, muffled against the snow, pulls Phil out of his longing. Who would come here, at this time? It’s too late for any sane person to come to the tundra, but the steps are accompanied by the clinking of armour, harsh against the silent night air.

An attack? On Phil’s family? The assailant won’t survive the atrocity they think they will commit.

“Phil!” A woman’s voice calls. “Phil I need to tell you something, it’s about Tommy!”

Phil spins around, and sees Captain Puffy, head of Eret’s royal guard. He breathes a sigh of relief, the woman has too much honour to attack them at this hour, and she wouldn’t lie to him about his son. Phil knows that she and Sam adopted Tommy in all but legalities, and though it hurts, he understands why.

Phil knows he wasn’t the best parent to his two youngest. Killed one, and blew up the others nation to punish the one he killed. It’s for the best if he stays away from Tommy.

“Yeah, Puffy?” He calls to her, watching as she climbs up the steps. Her ears and face as flushed red, either from the travel to his home or from the cold wind that surrounds them. “Would you like to come in?”

“That would be lovely, Techno ought to know as well. Shouldn’t hear this sort of thing from second hand sources or whatever.” Puffy takes off her armour, shivering in the freezing night air. Phil opens the front door, beckoning Puffy to come inside.

“UNO MOTHERFUCKER!” Ranboo yells, slamming down a card. “Oh hey Phil, Puffy.”

“Hello Ranboo, how are you?” Puffy smiles, but it doesn’t meet her eyes.

“Good, about to finally beat Techno - Oh you bastard.” Ranboo turns his eyes back to the game.

“Maybe you two should pause your game for a second.” Puffy says softly, nervously standing on the balls of her feet.

“Or you could say whatever you need to say to us now.” Techno suggests, placing down a card. Phil looks to his son nervously, worried that Techno is going to offend the woman who is looking after his youngest son.

“Someone blew up Pandora’s Vault.”

The game stops, silence filling the room. Dread sets in Phil’s stomach, an old and unwelcome friend. Ranboo drops his cards, and Techno stiffens, as though preparing for an attack.

“We can hide Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo easily.” Phil says, wringing his hands nervously. 

“Heh?” Techno frowns, looking at his father. “Tommy and Tubbo-”

“Should not die at Dream’s hand.” Ranboo interrupts him, looking up at Puffy. “So Dream’s escaped? We’re all screwed now, right?”

“No.” Puffy says. “Dream is still in prison.”

“Thank the Void.” Techno huffs. “So Why exactly are you here?”

“Tommy is trapped in the same cell as him.”

\---

Sam jumps down from the roof of Pandora’s vault upon seeing the family. Large black wings, pink hair, black and white skin, a ram hybrid and a grey ghost run towards the prison. Sam meets them halfway, Puffy must have followed through on her threat to tell the family about Tommy’s predicament.

Hopefully he won’t be beaten too much, he still has to fix the prison so he can get Tommy to safety.

“I’m here for a job.” Techno says as he meets Sam. “I want to help you.”

“I can’t let you into the prison, Techno. I have to fix it.” Sam says, running dirty hands through his green hair. “I have to fix it, I can’t stop. Tommy won’t be hurt if I keep fixing it.”

“Do you really believe that Dream will stop hurting Tommy just because you’re placing down blocks?” Techno asks mockingly.

“Yes.” Sam says, and the group blinks in shock. “If I’m placing blocks, Tommy isn’t being hurt. If I’m placing blocks, Tommy will get out. I need to get back to repairing the building now, Techno. Please leave, I can’t let Tommy get hurt.”

“These rituals won’t stop him from being hurt.” Phil says gently, placing his hand on Sam’s shoulder. Sam rips away from the older man, as though the touch burns. 

“There’s nothing else I can do.” Sam admits, more to himself than to the group. Phil nods unhappily.

“We’ll get you the resources then.” Ranboo says, smiling softly. “Blackstone, right? We’ll gather, you build.”

“Thank you.” Sam turns, fleeing the family. 

He can’t fail Tommy. He can’t let Dream hurt him more.

It’s been four days, and Tommy still isn’t out. Place blocks. Place redstone. Do not think

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Finally, I post a fic with an actual /plan/ for all of the chapters.


End file.
